1000 Steps
by silverivy13
Summary: After being stuck in the hospital for years, I finally get to start my pokemon journey! Along the way I meet new friends, pokemon, get into some trouble and battle my way through the Vermillion League! ***first story no hate please rates T to be safe***
1. Chapter 1

The Journey Begins

Our story opens on the beautiful Vermillion Islands, a series of islands with pokemon from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova. With 8 different gyms and their own pokemon league, the Vermillion Islands are a great place to start on your journey, as well as catch a full arsenal of pokemon. On the island of Safrico, in the sleepy little town of Valaroma, our story begins...

The first thing I saw on my journey was the sky. A beautiful pink sky as the sun began to rise over the hills. I quietly slipped out of my house so as not to wake my parents and ran through the silent streets of my hometown, Valaroma Village, and as I reached the edge of the town, I stared out over the long expanse of pale green dew-drop covered fields and hills.

"It's beautiful." I whisper. My skitty nods in agreement and nuzzles my leg. If he wasn't with me, I probably won't have the nerve to do this.

Sorry, I got a bit ahead of myself. I'm Kayla Midori, age 12, and I'm just starting on my pokemon journey. Why am I starting it late? Well, ever since I was little, I've been sickly, and I was discharged from the hospital for the first time in 3 years about 2 weeks ago with the warning to not push myself. I'll be turning 13 in 3 more months and my parents said that when I turn 13, they'll let me leave on my journey, but after watching my younger brother and sister leave on their journeys, I have itchy feet. I didn't want to wait 3 months, so I decided to run away in the early morning. My skitty, whose name is Neko, has been friends with me since I was 8. We've been together for nearly 5 years now, and if I didn't have Neko, I wouldn't be able to do this. He's already pretty strong so he'll be my starter pokemon. Now that you're all caught up, let's get back to the story.

"It's beautiful." I say. "I've been dreaming of this for years now and I'm finally going! I'll be the best trainer in the whole world! Just you wait Neko, soon you'll have tons of new friends to play with! Maybe if we're lucky, we'll even find you a Moon Stone and you could evolve! You're more than ready!" I say excitedly.

"Miyao," Neko says patiently, allowing me to take it all in before we continue.

"Oh Neko, I'm so glad you're coming with me," I say quietly. "With you by my side, I can do anything!" And with that we start down the hill towards a brand new adventure.

"Wait!" A voice cries. I freeze. I know that voice. This isn't good. I slowly turn around and look back at the top of the town.

"Mom." I whisper.

"Kayla wait!" she calls and hurries down the hill towards me.

"Don't try to stop me, mom," I say. "I'm leaving on my journey and there's nothing you can say that'll make me wait. I've been waiting for this my whole life and you're not going to-"

"I know," she replies breathlessly as she reaches me. "Which is why I brought you these." She holds up a pair of brand-new dark brown hiking boots. "These are to keep your feet from hurting. And this is from me. Neko is going to have to eat you know." As she hands me a backpack and a small bag of pokeblocks especially for normal types. "Now look in the backpack" she says. I do and see a belt with a small pack and loops for poke-balls, as well as 5 poke-balls, a pair of silver goggles with teal lenses, and-

"Mom..." I whisper. "This is..."

She smiles as she says "That pendant was your fathers. He would've wanted you to have it."

Tears well in my eyes. "Do you really think so?" I say as the early morning light catches the beautiful pale green gem and reflects beams of green light onto the silver fixings. My father died right after my youngest sister was born in a boating accident on his way to Carimon Island. This pendant is my mothers greatest treasure.

"Of course he would. Whenever you're sad or missing home, just look at it and I'll be right there with you. You're never alone, remember that. You can always come home," she says with a smile on her face.

"Yeah," I whisper. "Yeah I know. Thank you mom," I say as I tightly hug her. "Thank you so so much."

"Of course," she says and hugs me back. "Have fun. Good luck. Make sure you reach your goal. Never stop dreaming."

"I won't," I reply. I turn around and start down the path, wiping tears from my eyes. Neko smiles up at me and rubs against my leg as we walk on.

"Goodbye!" my mother yells as I walk out of earshot. "I love you sweetie," she whispers. "She's turning out exactly like her father," she says.

I spin around and wave, then I turn my back on my little hometown and walk into the rising sun, determined to not come back until my goals have been met and I'm the greatest trainer in the world. It's only a matter of time!


	2. Ch 2: An Eevee Encounter!

**Hi everyone! Since I only got 17 views for Chapter 1, looks like my dreams of being the best fanfiction writer ever is gonna be a little harder than I thought. So please rate and review! It's gonna be difficult to create a whole new region with different towns and everything, but I can do it! So please enjoy!**

Ch. 2: An Eevee Encounter!

It's the second day of our journey, and Neko and I have finally reached the Comidel Forest. The tall pine trees loom over us ominously.

"Wow, those trees are huge. Maybe we can catch another pokemon too! That would be great, considering Saltus Town is right beyond these woods. The gym leader there, Sylvie, is supposed to be really nice, and pretty easy. She specializes in grass types, so a flying type or fire type would be good. And there are supposed to be tons of wild pokemon here. I'm getting excited! Come on Neko!" I say.

"Myao," Neko replies happily from his perch on my shoulder. And with that, we walk into the woods. The first 2 hours are pretty fun. We see so many different pokemon, of course they're mostly Nincada, Poochyena, and Deerling. But I still manage to fill up quite a bit of my pokedex. At one point we saw an Absol, and, seeing as it's incredibly rare in the Vermillion Island region, we decided to go after it. And we left the path. We lost it, of course. But after that, we came to realize something much more important.

"It's official," I declare. "We. Are. Lost. This is not good. I completely forgot these woods can be confusing and it's easy to lose your way. I guess we'll just have to keep going until we find the path." I silently cursed myself for leaving the path. "Sorry Neko," I say. "We shouldn't've chased that Absol."

"Myo miyao mi myao," I haven't the slightest idea what that means, so I decide to interpret it as _'its ok Kayla, we'll find our way back'_. And so we start walking again. The first hour passes. We find absolutely nothing but we try to stay positive. Hour 2, and we're still lost. By hour 3 we're getting pretty discouraged, when-

"MIYAO!" Neko cries and leaps off my shoulder, bounding through the tall grass.

"Neko, wait!" I call, running after it. "You're too fast," I break out of the grass, and there it is. The path! "Haha yes! We made it out! Finally!" I cry happily, spinning Neko around in my arms. "But that wasted most of the daylight. We better get out of these woods soon or we'll have to sleep here. And that would probably be kind of scary." We're just about to move on when we hear a loud wail coming off the path in the direction we just came. "Wha-" I murmur as we hear it again. It's a pokemon for sure, and it sounds scared. I look down at Neko. He stares up at me expectantly. "You can't possibly expect me to go back in there."

"Myao."

"Come on! We just got up of there! You wanna get lost again?"

"Mi myao mew ao"

"Fine! But when we get lost, I'm blaming you!" And we turn and run in the direction of the sound. "It's getting closer. I'd say we're practically on top of it." I say after about 10 minutes. Turns out I was right, because next thing I know, we're skidding to a halt to avoid a swarm of Beedrill. "Oh good. They haven't seen us." I say. "Let's keep look-" an incredibly loud wail sounds in front of me. "Oh you've got to be kidding me," I mutter. The pokemon we were trying to find is what the Beedrill swarm is attacking! I can vaguely make out a small lump of brown fur cowering by a tree, surrounded by the angry Beedrill. "Ok, guess we should help!" I say. "Neko, use double-slap!"

"Mrooow!" Neko cries and starts slapping the Beedrill away with its tail.

"Good! Keep going and clear us a path!" I shout, and with that Neko begins to carve a path through the Beedrill. I follow closely behind, and finally were at the little pokemon. "It's an Eevee," I exclaim. Like Absol, wild Eevee are a rare encounter in the Vermillion Islands. The little pokemon's fur is dirty and matted with sweat and one of its legs looks swollen. It huddles against the tree, shuddering, as it tries to keep away from the Beedrill. "Come on, Neko. The Eevee needs our help." He murmurs his agreement and I scoop the little Eevee into my arms and starting running through the swarm, with Neko slapping away the attacking Beedrill.

"Veee!" it cries. "Veeee evee vee!" It starts desperately trying to get away.

"Calm down!" I say. "You're gonna be fine! I won't let them hurt you anymore! Just let me take you to a pokemon center!"

"Vee!" It cries and leaps out of my arms just as Neko cries a warning. One of the Beedrill broke through his defense and is charging at the Eevee.

"No!" I shout and jump for the Eevee. Just as its about to sting the tiny pokemon, I run in front of it and take a Beedrill stinger to the shoulder. I shout and fall to one knee as pain shoot through my right arm. Neko and the little Eevee run over over to me in worry.

"Myao!" Neko cries and looks up at me worriedly. The little Eevee stares up at me in shock.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," I say. "What kind of trainer would I be if I let a pokemon get hurt when I could've helped?" I say to the little Eevee. "Now will you let me take you to a pokemon center?" The small pokemon doesn't say anything; instead it leaps into my arms and licks my shoulder. I ignore the soreness in my shoulder and continue to hold the pokemon. "I'll take that as a yes," I say laughing. "Alright Neko, lets go!"

We got through the rest of the Beedrill with no more big incidents and we also somehow found our way back onto the path. After about an hour of walking with the little Eevee cradled in my arms and Neko marching beside me, we finally reach the end of the woods, and with it, Saltus Town.

"There's the pokemon center!" I say, and we race down the slope and through the doors. We must've looked pretty bad, because all the other trainers in line to heal their pokemon parted to let us pass. Nurse Joy took one look at us and rushed us into the treatment area. Only them did I see my reflection. My clothes and skin were covered in dirt and grass stains. My normally light-brown hair is now a dusty gray color and clumped in areas where it got caught on branches. I now have dark circles under my pale green eyes and the place where the Beedrill stung me now has a large blackened bruise that covers the majority of my shoulder. Neko's light pink pelt is brown, and the Eevee, which I thought was just covered in dirt, is, apparently, a shiny Eevee. After waiting about 2 hours for her to finish Eevee's treatment, she comes out holding it. It's a girl, as it turns out. Nurse Joy tells me that it's in perfect health now and can now be released back into the wild.

"I'm not so sure it wants to go back, though," she says, with a smile. "I think this little girl would like to go with you. Would you like that Eevee?" She asks.

"Vee!" It says in agreement, and leaps into my arms.

"Really?" I say in shock. "You want to come with me?"

"Vee vee!" It replies happily, licking my cheek.

"Haha ok!" I laugh. "This is great! My second pokemon! Thank you Nurse Joy!" I say. "Um, can we have a room to stay in tonight?" She laughs.

"Of course! That's what the pokemon center is for!" She says, and shows the three of us to a room.

Later that night we all crawl into the bed. "Alright Eevee. Your new name is Ivy. Welcome to the team, although its not very big."

"Vee!" Ivy says happily and curls up in my arms. I laugh and roll onto my back so there's room for Neko. As we all drift into sleep, I make up my mind. Training starts tomorrow, and then? Then we're challenging Sylvie!


	3. Chapter 3: Legend of The Crater

** Sorry I haven't been on in so long! I've beebusty with high school, and the swim team. -.- Anyway, here it is! Chapter 3 of my pokemon story! Please enjoy it! Rate and review! :)))**

Chapter 3: the Mysterious Crater

It's been about 3 days since I began my training to challenge Sylvie. Against the advice of Nurse Joy as well as my mom, who freaked out when I called her to ask for new clothes, I decided to train in the forest. I'd already gone through it once, so I knew where to avoid the Beedrill. Neko and Ivy had both grown stringer, so I decided 1 more day of training and we'd challenge her. However, lately I'd been hearing rumors from the trainers who would go to the pokemon center about a strange crater in the middle of the woods. I finally decided to ask Nurse Joy about it.

"There's a local legend that took place in that forest. It's said that a large meteorite crashed into the forest about 5 years ago. People went out searching for it, but they would always get turned around in the forest, or run out screaming about a mysterious dark shape that spews fire. Of course, it's all just a legend. Strange how its resurfaced all of a sudden." Nurse Joy explained. "I advise you to stay away from there. Swarms of Beedrill and packs of Ursaring live around there."

"Hmm. Ok thank you Nurse Joy," I reply, as I turn and walk out of the pokemon center. I glance down at Neko and Ivy, who look at me expectantly. "I think we have the same idea. Lets go look for that crater!" My pokemon reply with murmurs of agreement, and with Neko on right shoulder and Ivy on my left, we march into the woods with one goal: finding the mysterious fire-breathing pokemon.

It seemed like every 15 minutes we'd stumble onto another horde of pokemon. And of course, we did the reasonable thing: we ran for out lives. Neko and Ivy may be string, but we can't take on 10 Beedrill, or 7 Ursaring. This must've gone on for hours. And then, the sun set. So there we are, lost in the middle of the forest, after dark. We kept looking though. Our encounters decreased because most of the pokemon were asleep, which was a big relief. Finally, we decided to give up and settle down for the night. Neko and Ivy curled up on my lap, as I leaned against and looked up at the stars.

"I never thought this would happen to me," I whisper. "I was always so weak, I thought I'd only be able to dream about this. But here I am. The stars are so beautiful out here, with no lights to get in the way. I'm so happy." Neko nuzzles my hand, and I smile. And slowly, we drift off to sleep.

At some point, if I had to guess, probably around 3 AM, we were awoken by a long cry from some point deeper in the forest. Neko jumps up and growls, while Ivy whimpers and clings to me. For a second, I thought something was attacking, but then I recognized something in the howl. It was a long, mournful, cry, one that seemed incredibly sad. After realizing there was no threat, my pokemon went back to sleep. I, however, could not. I kept thinking back to that howl. Who made that cry? Why was it so sad? I didn't get any more sleep that night.

The next day, we set out again. It was much quieter than the day before. After about an hour of walking, Neko suddenly shrieked in my ear.

"Ow! What is it, Neko?" He jumped off my shoulder and raced through the bushes. I run after him, Ivy running close at my side. "Wait, Neko! What is-?" I break off as I emerge from the bushes. "Wow..." In front of me is a huge crater, grass and vines snaking all through it, but a crater nonetheless. In the middle is the remains of what looks like a helicopter, old and rusted, moss growing all over it. The crater itself is probably about 10 feet below ground level at the deepest point and about 30 feet across. The slopes are steep and slippery with moss and vines but I can still see the charred remains of the plants that were destroyed when the carter was formed. "So it IS real..." I breathe. And then...

"GRROOOOOWWRRR!" A loud roar erupts from behind me. I shriek and lose my footing, tumbling down the crater to the very bottom, and I land hard.

"Ow..." I say as I sit up, rubbing my head, as Neko and Ivy race to my side. Just then a large pokemon leaps from the edge of the crater where we were standing and lands in from of us. It's black pelt is scraggy and patchy. The silver bands around its neck, legs and on its back are covered in dirt and look almost brown. It's red belly and snout are matted from sweat, and it's cakes and horns are dull. It's eyes are tired, but also have a certain life to them. One of its front paws is matted a dark red, with dried blood, and it's limping. The 'mysterious fire-breathing pokemon' is a Houndoom. It growls again and steps forward menacingly. Neko and Ivy step forward and stand in front of me protectively. It growls again and,as it swipes at Neko, I suddenly realize what it's doing. My two pokemon growl and leap at the Houndoom, but before they. Can make contact, I throw myself in front of it. My pokemon falter and land on the ground as I stand in front of the Houndoom protectively, which growls quietly as I turn and look at it.

"I get it," I say. "You're trying to protect this place." The Houndoom looks at me. "That howl I heard last night came form you. You must've been on this helicopter when it crashed 5 years ago. I don't know what happened to your trainer, but it must've somehow left you here alone. All these years you've been protecting this place, hoping your trainer will come back. But surely you realize... They're not going to come back. All alone, by yourself, for 5 years... That must've been so lonely..." I reach out my hand and stroke the side of the Houndoom's face. It looks wary, but then it steps forward and bows its head in front of me, allowing me to stroke it. "Poor thing..." I say. Neko and Ivy glance at each other, then walk forward and rub against the Houndoom. I swear, if a pokemon could smile, the Houndoom was. "I know!" I say suddenly. All the pokemon look at me, curiosity on their faces. "How would you like to come with me?" I say. The Houndoom looks at me in surprise. "I know I'm not your original trainer, but you'd be welcome with me." I say. "I need a fire-type on my team, and I'd be more than happy to have you." I say and hold out a pokeball.

The Houndoom looks at me, then the pokeball, then my pokemon, then back at the pokeball. And then, it steps forward and pushes its nose against the button. The pokeball opens and pulls the Houndoom inside of it. I open the pokeball again, and Houndoom comes out.

"I'll take that as a yes," I say, smiling. The Houndoom licks my hand. "You're welcome," I respond. "Now, you need a name... How about... Blaze?" The Houndoom licks me again. "Ok, Blaze it is!" I say. "Now then, lets head back to the pokemon center and get you all cleaned up. After I see what you can do, we'll take on Sylvie!" My pokemon nod in agreement, and we all set off. But not before I notice the strange symbol on the helicopter. A bright-red circle with a white X through it and a light gray diamond formed by the X's lines. The outer circle is black. _How strange... That symbol looks familiar, but I can't think form where... Oh well. It must not be very important._

At that time, I was too happy bout getting a new pokemon and a fire-type at that, that I didn't think too much about the symbol. I wish I had, though. That symbol would be the cause of something terrible that would happen soon... And it held an even darker secret than I could ever dream of...


	4. Chapter 4: Thunderstorm

**I'm so sorry this took so long! I've been so busy with highschool and the swim team, that I don't have much free time. -.- But anyway, here's chapter 4! I've been waiting until I could introduce the childhood friend. He's also a possible love interest. ;) So please rate and review! And if you like it, please follow or favorite me! Ok thanks!**

Chapter 4: Thunderstorm

"Ok Blaze! Finish it off with Flamethrower!" I yell the command and my Houndoom unleashes a unrelenting powerful torrent of flames that slam into the Roselia and engulf it.

"Roeeeeee!" it cries and slams onto the ground on its back and passes out.

"Roselia is unable to battle! That means the victor is Kayla, the challenger!" the referee shouts and raises the green flag which means I won. A stupidly wide smile breaks out in my face as I realize I just won my first gym badge.

It's been 3 days since I caught my third pokemon, and I spent the first 2 days training my new Houndoom and getting it used to my team. When i got back to the pokemon center, Nurse Joy almost had a heart attack, but i assured her i was just dirty, which i was. Again. She was surprised when i told her that the mysterious shadowy pokemon that was hiding in the crater was really just a lonely Houndoom that needed a friend. After she treated him, we began our training. I greatly overestimated the strength of the first gym leader, as I was able to one-hit K.O. all 3 of the gym leader's pokemon. I guess type advantages really are incredible. Of course I didn't escape unscathed though. Her pokemon all had a higher speed than mine, and although my Houndoom dodged her Sunflora's attack, her Cherubi and Roselia's attacks both hit. They didn't have much effect though.

"We did it!" I cry. Blaze barks in agreement and barrels into me, knocking me on my back and starts licking my face. Neko and Ivy jump on me too, and I'm buried under a dogpile of 3 pokemon, if that's even possible. The gym leader, Sylvie, laughs.

"Congratulations! You've trained your Houndoom well. I can tell you have a very strong bond with him."

"Actually," I reply, "I only just caught this Houndoom 3 days ago."

"Really?" she asks, obviously surprised. "You have a way with pokemon then, he listened to you completely and all your pokemon clearly love you very much."

"I just identify with them. Neko has been with me almost my whole life, so he knows what I've been through and he's always been there. When I came through the forest, I saved Ivy for a swarm of Beedrill, so I assume she likes me because she's grateful. And this Houndoom was just lonely. I saw that, so I took him with me. They all chose to be my pokemon, which is strange I guess. But it doesn't matter to me, I love all 3 of them!" The gym leader doesn't say nothing and when I glance at her, she looks surprised, but a smile quickly breaks out on her face.

"We'll, I have a feeling you're going to be a great trainer. Good luck with the rest of your journey. And here's your reward, the Leaf Badge! This badge will raise your pokemon's speed in battle. Congratulations once again!" She hands me a light green in the shape of an oak leaf with a small dark green stone in the center. I smile and thank her, then head back to the pokemon center.

"Nurse Joy, where is the next gym?" I ask her, running up to the front desk.

"Hmm. The closest one is in Idolum City. The quickest way to get there is to take Route 307, which is just north of here." she replies.

"Ok thank you Nurse Joy!" I reply and race off, not hearing her as she calls after me.

"Ah wait, don't-" but I was already out the door. Nurse Joy sighs. "We'll, she'll probably be fine. But there's supposed to be a large thunderstorm tonight..." A boy who was sitting on the couch in the lounge, who had overheard the conversation, raises his head when Nurse Joy says this. He walks over to the form desk.

"I'd like my pokemon back now please." he says.

"Ah, of course. I'm not sure they're ready yet. You'll have to wait a little longer, I'm sorry." The boy grunts and goes and sits back down on the couch.

"A thunder storm, huh?" He mutters. "Not good..."

...

As I walk the route, I decide to check my pokedex on information on Idolum City. "Hmm." I say. "So the gym leader is another girl named Kayru. And she specializes in Ice-types. Looks like I'll be using Blaze again. You up for it?" I ask, and my pokemon, who's walking beside me with Ivy on his back barks in agreement. "Haha good," I say. "We're gonna be the best team in the world! Just wait you guys!" I say, laughing. My pokemon all voice their agreement loudly, and we continue to talk, or at least I do, for the next few hours. "So when we get to Idolum City, we need to visit the professor so I can officially register. We were lucky Sylvie let me off with that. Pretty soon, we'll get to enter the-" I'm cut off as a water drop hits my nose. "Huh? Rain?" I say and look up at the darkening sky, large black clouds gathered above us. There's a loud CRACK as thunder claps and rain begins to fall. My face pales and my eyes get wide. "Rain... And thunder." I whisper.

There's one more thing you should know about me. I am absolutely terrified of thunder ever since my childhood, when I was trapped out in the woods in a thunderstorm when I was 6. Neko wasn't with me then, and I was scared out of my mind. I was found though, but I'm still scared of it. It was also raining and thundering the day my mom and I found out my dad died. So I've never particularly liked it. And now I'm out in the middle of a thunderstorm with no town in sight for miles. So of course, I do the natural reaction that someone makes when they're scared: I scream and freak out. In hindsight, it was not the best idea. To get out of the rain, I frantically search for a tree or something, but seeing as I'm in a field, it takes a while. I finally find a giant tree and I sit underneath it and pull my knees to my chest.

I guess I'm pretty scared because I'm visibly shaking and my eyes are wide and mirror what I'm feeling. My pokemon run over to me and sit down by me, rubbin against me and trying to keep me warm. All of a sudden there's another loud crack and lightning strikes the ground relatively close to me. I shriek again and push myself against the tree even harder. My pokemon are getting worried now, as lightning continues to strike around the tree and the rain falls harder.

I don't know how long I'm sitting there, but when I think I hear a voice I look up. I don't see anyone, but I do hear someone yelling. The sound gets closer and as I turn to look to my right, a figure barrels into me, half-pulling, half-shoving me away from the tree just as a particularly loud crack of thunder sounds, and lightning splits the sky, striking the tree I was just under, and setting it ablaze almost instantaneously,blackening the trunk and disintegrating the leaves. If I had stayed under there, I would be dead now. My breath comes in shaky gasps and I turn my head to look at the person who saved me, who is on his hands and knees and kneeling over me, as I lay in the muddy puddles of grass underneath me. It's the same boy from the pokemon center. His black hair is soaking wet and sticks to his forehead and neck, appearing almost 2-3 shades darker than normal. The boy's cobalt blue eyes reflect worry and mirror my own fear, but for different reasons. My own light green eyes widen in surprise and I let out an almost in audible whisper.

"...Drew?" This is my childhood friend, Drew Locklen. He left for his pokemon journey about a year and a half ago. He almost didn't go because he didn't want to leave me in the hospital, but I insisted he go and have fun. He did grudgingly, and I never thought I'd see him again, but here he is. Relief flashes in his eyes as he backs off and lets me sit up, but it's quickly replaced with anger.

"You IDIOT!" He yells loudly, and I flinch. "When there's a lightning storm, you don't hide under a giant tree! It'll just attract the lightning! If I hadn't found you, you would've been killed! And after you just got out of the hospital no less! What were you thinking?!" He rages on and I lower my head in shame. "You're pokemon could've been hurt as well! You could've died! What would I do then?! What about your mom?! What if I wasn't here?! What then?!" I'm getting pissed off now, so I cut him off abruptly, tears welling in my eyes.

"Well, excuse me for making a mistake!" I yell back. "I haven't been getting to go to school! I haven't been exploring the world! I left the hospital just one month ago, and just started my journey! I haven't seen you in a year and a half, and this is how you greet me?! Thanks a lot!" I scream at him, spitting out the words with as much rage as him. He blinks when I finish, eyes wide.

"Kayla..." he says. "Why are you crying?" A confused look appears on my face, and I realize he's right, that I am. I also realize why.

" I was really scared. You know I hate thunder. But it wasn't so much that, it's... My dad. Whenever I hear thunder, I can't help but think of my dad and how much I miss him. And... And I'm really glad to see you again." I reply, my voice an almost in audible whisper. Drew's face softens and he flashes me a smile.

"I'm glad to see you too." He answers, and hugs me. "It's ok, don't be scared." Memories wash over me and I remember that time when I was 6. I had had a big fight with Drew and was angry so I just went where my feet took me. I got lost and the it had started to rain. I was upset and scared and still kind of angry, and then the thunder started. All my anger just vanished and was overcome with overwhelming fear. I had hid under a tree than, too. But there was no lightning, just loud, loud, thunder. Nothing was out in it, all the pokemon were nowhere to be seen during that storm, no one would want to be in it. I was crying that time too. My fear took hold of me, and I remember I called for Drew. Just one scream, barely audible over the thunder and rain. But it worked. Almost immediately, I felt arms wrap around me, and I heard Drew's voice. _'Its ok,'_ he had whispered, _'I'm here. Don't be scared.' _He had been looking for me the whole day, in the pouring rain, nonstop. Just like now.

I wrap my arms around him and hug him tightly, my 3 pokemon rubbing against me, thankful that I'm ok. We pull part and he helps me to my feet.

"So these are your pokemon?" He asks. I nod in agreement as he reaches down and scratches Neko behind his ear. "Hey Neko. You've done a good job looking after her for me." He smiles as Neko let's out a happy purr.

"These are my pokemon," I say. " You already know Neko. This is Ivy my Eevee and Blaze, my Houndoom." I reply."we already have a gum badge." I add proudly. He smiles and congratulates me. The thunder gradually dies down, but the rain continues to fall. Drew removes his dark gray jacket and puts it around my shoulders when he sees I'm shivering. I put it on gratefully, Neko snuggling into my neck. Ivy and Blaze were returned to their pokeballs, but Neko decided to remain with me. The 3 of us walk the rest of the way in silence. We finally reach Idolum City as the morning sun begins to rise. Only then does the rains stop.


End file.
